Incoming west Sullivan district leader raring to go

JEFFERSONVILLE — When students return Thursday morning at Sullivan West, they will be greeted by a tall, athletic woman with a warm smile — the district's new leader.

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By Victor Whitman

recordonline.com

By Victor Whitman

Posted Sep. 6, 2012 at 2:00 AM

By Victor Whitman

Posted Sep. 6, 2012 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

JEFFERSONVILLE — When students return Thursday morning at Sullivan West, they will be greeted by a tall, athletic woman with a warm smile — the district's new leader.

Nancy Hackett, who took over the western Sullivan County district in July, says she's dying to see the first kids come through the doors with their book bags and lunch boxes.

"I am very ready," she said, greeting a group of teachers on Wednesday who has come in to set up their rooms.

Hackett was hired in May after Ken Hilton retired. Unlike her three predecessors, she isn't coming into a deeply divided district with people gunning for the superintendent's head.

The district's turbulent past decade is well documented. Three districts merged in 1999 to form the Sullivan West School District, which built a new high school in the hamlet of Lake Huntington that ran over budget and had numerous construction flaws.

The district later closed two of its original schools, causing years of mistrust among board members, bad feelings among the communities, and several lawsuits with contractors.

But that is in the past.

"I think they have done a lot of healing from that merger," Hackett said. "I think that is a reflection of the people who are here and care a lot."

The new superintendent has an early test, though. The district wants to use money in a reserve fund to redo the athletic fields — a controversial subject in the past — and complete various renovations to its schools.

Hackett believes voters will approve this on Oct. 23.

"I definitely think it is a reflection of moving things forward," she said. "I would hope people would support that."

Hackett, who politely declined to give her age but has two adult children, was plucked from Brighton High School in Monroe County, a school roughly the same size as Sullivan West. She was the principal for seven years.

A volleyball player and softball pitcher, she started out as a physical education and elementary school teacher. Hackett also taught and coached at Monroe Community College and was a middle school principal. She received a doctorate at SUNY Brockport. She says she's a perfect fit for a country school. She grew up in Tonawanda on the Niagara River in upstate New York, a place not unlike western Sullivan County.

She's now house hunting in the district with her husband and believes she'll stay longer than her three-year contract. But that's a long way off. The first day of school is coming.